Fortress
by Roman1967
Summary: My first fic. Season 4 pretty much ticked me off. Some good episodes, more bad ones. I figured the writers were going to ruin something about the Fortress of Solitude, so I wrote my own version of the Season 4 Finale and the Season 5 Premier. This fic


"Clark Joseph Kent."

Clark stood and walked up the stage. He looked around at his classmates as he climbed the steps. Some smiled his way, some were busy looking at their diplomas, and others were just looking around. Sort of like how his high school years went. Some people he was close to; others, he wasn't. Deep down, though, Clark knew that "close" was a relative term. He would never be able to be really "close" to someone. No one would understand him or his abilities.

Clark reached the podium, shook the principal's hand, and accepted his diploma. He turned to the crowd, moved his tassel from the left side to the right side and grinned. A small roar of applause came from the middle of the audience. He looked up and saw his mom, dad and grandmother standing and applauding him. His dad gave a whistle and clapped some more, then brought up his camera.

"Great," thought Clark. "More pictures. I've had my picture taken enough today to last me a lifetime."

To his dad's right, Clark saw Lois standing and clapping too. She gave a wolf-whistle, which caused Clark to blush a little. He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

"She's not all that bad," Clark reflected. "Not really my type, but we've certainly been through a lot together."

Clark remembered everything he did as Kal-El, _especially_ Lois finding him in the field after he had been with Jor-El in the cave for 3 months. He thought back on that time and gave a little shiver. "I can't believe I was actually flying. That's one ability that won't get used too much."

"Clark"

Clark turned around and saw the principal look at him and then pointedly look at the staircase. He grinned sheepishly and made his way down the steps, being careful not to trip over his gown. "Not bad colors," Clark mused. "School colors, I suppose. Red and yellow. It would look sort of nice with a splash of blue somewhere. I've always liked blue."

The nonsense thoughts continued in Clark's head through the rest of his classmates' names. Clark stood and clapped when Lana and Chloe were called up. Clark felt that this day was turning out OK. He could feel Pete's absence as a dull ache in the pit of his stomach, but he knew that Pete had his own graduation and family to worry about now.

The principal was nearing the end of the list when Clark heard a murmuring come from behind him. He turned around and saw Sheriff Adams walking up the aisle, her eyes fixed on the principal. Clark turned and looked at his dad and saw concern etched on his face while his mother was looking up at him, looking equally concerned.

The sheriff reached the podium and spoke briefly to the principal. The principal nodded and Adams turned to address the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," she began, "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt this fine occasion, but we've just gotten word from the Metropolis observatory that there is what appears to be a grouping of meteors on course for Earth. Now, they say a lot of them are small and are going to burn up in the atmosphere, but some of them are bigger and may impact. They also say the likely area of impact is going to be near us or Metropolis. I'm going to have to ask that these festivities be cut short and you all head home and take appropriate safety measures. Thank you."

And with that, Sheriff Adams walked off the stage without a look to any of the concerned Smallville citizens.

"Dad, I've got to try and help," said Clark as he helped Jonathan bring supplies into the root cellar. "It's not as if I can get hurt."

"Clark, the last thing we need is for people to see you appearing out of nowhere and catching a meteor out of the air," replied Jonathan with a wry grin. "Besides. What do you think you can do? You can't stop all of them."

"No, but maybe I can help people if they become trapped in a building or something."

Clark knew his dad wanted only the best for him, but was getting a little frustrated at his over-protectiveness in this matter. People might get hurt and Clark felt he couldn't just sit in his cellar while that happened.

"Your father's right," said Martha. "We don't know what's going to happen. Maybe some of the impacts won't even be in populated areas. And you running around only opens up the possibility of someone seeing you."

Clark looked down at his mother. Such love and concern she had for him and his dad. And she was strong too, remembering how she refused to let the doctor's take his dad off of life support. Clark wondered what would have happened if she had faced Jor-El instead of Jonathan last summer. "Jor-El wouldn't have stood a chance," Clark mused.

"Mom, I have to. If there is a chance that someone might need help, I need to be there to help." Clark looked to his dad, "I'll be careful not to be seen. I promise."

Suddenly, there was a loud sound – like a sonic boom. The three of them looked up and saw meteors streaking across the sky.

"I'm sorry. I have to go. I'll be careful."

And with that, Clark streaked off.

"Well, this has been fun," thought Clark as he raced back into town. "So far no one has seen me and, thankfully, no one has been killed. I've just had to clear some rubble, move some trees and turn cars right side up. And most of that work has been far out of town."

Most of the meteorites had impacted closer to Metropolis than Smallville. But Clark had a feeling about that. After all, this was Smallville and anything that could go wrong, usually went wrong here.

Clark stopped in front of the Talon and surveyed the street. It was still pretty empty, but it seemed that people had been listening to the Emergency Broadcast System and had heard that most of the impacts had not been around here. More people were coming out of hiding and getting back to their lives, thinking the danger was over. What was better was that none of the meteorites hurt Clark. Of course, Krypton had been destroyed long ago, so it would make sense that there would be no Kryptonite here. But still, Clark was pretty nervous about meteor rocks for some reason.

"Mr. Kent!"

"Sheriff. Buy you a cup of coffee?"

"Funny, Mr. Kent. But I don't recall the 'all clear' having been given. Why are you running around town?"

"I'm not running around. I just thought that it was over and came to see if any part of our town had been hit."

"Well, we have been pretty lucky so far and it looks like some other folks are thinking the same thing you are. There was a pretty big strike near the school. We can't go in until a crew from Metropolis gets here with their radiation suits."

"Near the school! Was anyone there?"

"I don't know, Mr. Kent. And don't you try to play hero. You may be lucky, but if there is radiation your 'luck' won't amount to a hill of manure." Sheriff Adams turned and surveyed the street. "You just stay put and let the professionals do their jobs." She turned back, but Clark was gone.

Clark could see the smoke rising to the horizon now. Where was he when this one hit? Probably near Metropolis, like he'd been all day. Clark came around the corner and saw the school. "Still intact, darn," he thought. Then, he saw the crater – right in the middle of the road. He thought he saw a gleam of red through the smoke, but couldn't be sure. He got closer and saw that it was a red car. And it looked like…

"Chloe!" Clark couldn't see through the smoke to see if anyone was in the car, but that didn't matter. He ran up and grabbed the car by the rear bumper and lifted it easily out of the crater. "Oh, God. Please don't let Chloe be hurt," prayed Clark as he eased the car back down onto the road. He hurried to the front of the car and ripped open the door. The car was empty.

"Clark!"

Clark turned around, "Chloe, you're OK!" He pulled her into a hug and held her close. "I was scared there for a minute." Then Clark realized something and stepped back.

"Umm… so, where were you a minute ago?"

"Well," thought Chloe, "It was bound to come up again." But this time she was determined to let all the truth out. "I was just over by that tree, coming back from the school. But it's OK, Clark. I know."

"Know? Know what?" Clark asked nervously.

"Clark, I know about your abilities. I've known for some time now. It's OK." Chloe touched his arm reassuringly.

"Abilities? Chloe I don't know where you've…"

"Clark! Stop it! I'm telling you it's OK. Alicia showed me before she… you know," Chloe hesitated, knowing what Alicia meant to Clark. "You remember the car? She sort of took me along for the ride because she wanted someone else to know. She said she was doing it so you could be together. I saw the whole thing, and it's OK. I still feel the same way about you."

Clark wasn't sure how to take this. Someone who knew about him that he hadn't given the information to. But his secret was still safe. He could feel that.

"Chloe, I… I should have…"

"Clark, it's OK. I know why you didn't, and I understand the reasons. I'm not upset at all. It _does_ explain a lot, though," she grinned up at him. "Funny how you got a lot of different abilities, when all of the other people on my wall only got one power. Maybe you are special or something."

Clark took a deep breath. So she didn't know everything. Well, he was done lying. "Chloe. I'm… not from around here." He saw her grin fade away, but pressed on. "The reason I have more abilities than anyone else is because I'm not from here. I came in the first meteor shower, so many years ago. I don't know who I am or why I'm here or anything like that. I just want to be completely honest with you now."

He studied her for a reaction. Anger. Fear. Anything. "Well, that _really_ explains a lot," she finally replied. "But it's still OK. I lov … I really care about you Clark. You're secret will be safe with me for as long as I live."

"So, how did you get out of the car?"

"I head a boom and looked up. I saw a meteor that looked like it was going to hit close so I got out of the car and ran the other way. Good thing I did. I was far enough away from the car that the concussion from the strike just knocked me over for a while. It was a pretty big one. You should see if the meteorite is still there."

Clark squinted at the crater and saw a oddly shaped rock in the middle of the crater with his X-Ray vision. It looked pretty smooth from what he could see. "You're right, Chloe. There is something there. Wait here."

Clark came back out of the crater holding a large, egg-shaped object. "This is strange," he remarked to Chloe. "It's very smooth. I can't see through it to see what's inside. There's something… wait. Here it is." Clark seemed to push on an end and a panel slid away opening the egg. Clark saw the green glow and quickly dropped the egg and ran away.

"Clark," shouted Chloe, "it doesn't look like the other pieces of meteor rock. You should be OK." So she knows about that too. "It has a longer shape - more crystalline. And it has something etched on the side."

Clark approached cautiously. He didn't feel any weaker yet. Finally he was standing right next to Chloe looking at the crystal. "How about that," he grinned at Chloe, "Something in Smallville that glows green and doesn't hurt me."

"But it has to mean something. Look at this symbol here, next to the grouping of three symbols. It's like an 8 enclosed in another shape. And look at that one next to it. That looks like Lana's tattoo."

"But dad, this has to be important."

Clark had returned from the school. The meteor shower was over and no one had been seriously injured. Most importantly, his dad was fine. It seemed like every time something "kryptonian" happened, his dad ended up in the hospital.

"You missed him this time, Jor-El," Clark thought as he waited for his dad's reply.

"Son, I know it does. I'm just concerned about what it means for you. Jor-El has never had your best interests in mind. He hasn't raised you like I have. He didn't have to watch in horror as you got trampled by a bull in McCullogh's field. You were all right, of course. That was when we realized that things were going to be very different with you, other than the fact you arrived in a spaceship." Jonathan gave a wry grin here but then his face set as he continued. "He hasn't had to watch you struggle with your growing abilities. He hasn't had to watch as you became ostracized from your friends because you were different. He hasn't had to deal with your fear. He hasn't shared your heartaches or your triumphs like we have. He has his own agenda and nothing else matters to him!"

"Uh-oh," thought Clark. "I know that look."

"I know, dad. But look at these symbols. This one here was the one Jor-El burned onto my chest." Jonathan's face took on an even more grim expression, if that was even possible. "And these three symbols next to it. Those are the symbols on the three crystals. This could be the final key."

"Son, every time we get involved with Jor-El, nothing good has come of it."

"We're just worried about you, Clark," added Martha. If anything, she looked even grimmer than his dad. And no wonder. All that she has been through – they both have been through – as he tried to figure out what his heritage meant.

"Mom. Dad. What would you have me do? Ignore it all. Forget that I'm an alien and can do things no one else can? Forget that Jor-El said he wanted me to conquer the planet? Forget all the things that have happened to you? Dad – your body was weakened because of a deal you made with Jor-El. What if this can help fix it? What if I can…"

"Clark, that's not the point. What I did, I'd do again in an instant if it means saving you. Your mother and I don't want you to forget any of those things. We just… we love you son, and we don't want to see you get hurt." Jonathan's face softened as he spoke. Clark could almost see tears in his eyes.

"I love you guys too. More than you know," Clark responded as he pulled them both into a hug. Clark thought it would be nice to stay in their protective arms forever, but he knew that he couldn't.

"Mom? Dad?" Clark began as he reluctantly pulled away, " Think of the people that have died because of all this. Dr. Walden. Dr. Crosby. Jason. Who knows how many others? I want this to end."

Martha looked up at her son. She knew that he was there when Jason died – that he had watched as Lana stabbed Jason with a crystal. Even though Isobel was in possession of Lana at the time, she knew that Clark had been shaken up by the events. He had regretted taking the crystals and leaving the scene, but he had had no choice. If she could save her son some of the pain, she would. But he would soon have to find his own path. She knew it. Jonathan knew it. And there was no use in trying to keep putting it off.

"Clark. If you have to do this, then we can't stop you. Just come back to us safe."

"Son," said Jonathan, his face determined, "If you need me, I'll be right here."

"I know dad. You always are. I'll be back, mom. And maybe this will all be behind us."

Clark remembered a time when the caves fascinated him. So many possibilities were open at that time. And now, someone was always getting hurt. Well, if he had anything to say about it, no one would get hurt anymore. He walked to the end of the cave and pressed his hand against the wall where the key went. Red, yellow, and blue lights flashed and the wall opened up before him.

"I'm here," called Clark as he entered the chamber within. Kryptonian symbols decorated the walls. It would almost be beautiful, if it weren't so eerie.

The pedestal in the center of the room glowed and an all too familiar voice echoed in his mind.

"Do you have the stones of knowledge, my son?"

"I have them. Knowledge of what? What does all this mean? People have died. Don't you care about that?"

"The deaths are of no consequence. It was for the greater good. All must be preserved."

"No consequence?" thought Clark. "What a cold-hearted son of a …"

"Place the remaining stones on the pedestal, my son, and all will be revealed to you."

"I have another crystal – a long green one. Where does that go?"

"That is the key. All will be revealed. Place the remaining stones."

Clark resignedly placed the two element stones on the pedestal. There was a bright flash of light.

"Well done, my son. Your journey is almost complete. All will be preserved. Now, you must go here." With these last words, a light erupted from the center of the stones and struck Clark in the forehead. When the light subsided, a map image was in his head. It was like a memory of some kind, even though he had never been there. And it looked like it was far north. Almost at the North Pole.

"What's up there?" Shouted Clark.

"All will be revealed."

Then, Clark was alone.

Clark had just run further than he had ever run before. This was even more than when he accidentally ended up in Salt Lake City when his powers were acting funny. He could see the landscape zipping by as he raced north. He watched as the prairies turned into rolling hills, then mountains with snow. Finally, he reached the spot on the map he felt was his destination.

Clark looked around. There was nothing here. He was in a snow-covered valley with mountains on all sides. The plain was at least a mile in diameter, the mountains reached majestically skyward.

"I'm here!" Cried Clark. "Now what?"

There was no answer.

"Hello? Jor-El? Anyone?"

Great! This was just great. Now what. Here he was, completely in the middle of nowhere on some grand quest for knowledge and he had no idea what to do next. How did he get himself into these things? He recalled the map image. Yes, he was in the right place according to the map. The "8" symbol in the pentagon was about where he was standing.

" 'El' marks the spot," mused Clark.

"I can't do this alone!" Clark screamed at the uncaring sky. "What do I do next?"

The uncaring sky was silent.

Clark took out the crystal and examined it. There were no clues on the crystal. There was nothing that looked like this area of the world – nothing written in Kryptonian telling him what to do next. Clark was disgusted. If Jor-El was going to send him on some mission, he could at least provide a clue as to what to do next when he got there. "It's not like I'm really Kryptonian," thought Clark. "I don't know about all this Library of Knowledge stuff."

Fine. Clark was not going to wait any longer. He looked at the crystal. And no one would find this out here, except maybe Santa Claus. With that, he tossed the crystal over his shoulder and walked away, heading back south – to home. He would just do the best he could and rely on his real parents to guide him. Just like every other kid in America.

There was a low rumbling sound, coming from underground. Clark turned and looked back and saw that the crystal was gone. It had buried itself in the snow. "All the better," thought Clark as he turned away again. The rumbling became more pronounced. The mountains began to shake. Clark stopped and turned. He didn't think there were earthquakes at the North Pole. Plates didn't join up here, did they?

Suddenly a light erupted from the mountain on his left. If he weren't at the North Pole, he would have thought it was west of him, but he knew that every direction from here was south, no matter which way you went. He was distracted from the light by the ground beneath his feet. It was rising. Clark quickly stepped back. A long shape was coming out of the ground. He looked back to the mountain and saw a large hole in the middle of it, about 100 feet up. It almost looked like…nah, it couldn't be. It looked like, well, a keyhole. But that was just silly. Then again, so was a teenager from another planet who could shoot fire from his eyes and was bulletproof.

Clark looked at the ground again and saw a large, golden shape. It was about 200 feet long and had a weird looking notch at the end of it. Sort of like – Clark rolled his eyes – sort of like a key. "This is the key," Jor-El had told him. So much for his being mysteriously opaque. This time, for the first time, he had been quite literal. But now what? Clark was not 100 feet tall. How was he going to get this key in the mountain? Unless…NO WAY!

"I'm not doing it! There is no way I am going to fly up there!"

The sky still didn't answer.

"I don't even know how," Clark muttered. That wasn't really true. He remembered flying when he had been under Jor-El's control last year. He even knew how to do it. He just wasn't sure how to do it, if that made any sense.

Clark resigned and hung his head. He had come here for answers. And now, they were almost right in front of him. He walked to the large golden key, positioned himself about in the middle of it and lifted. He walked to the mountain until the tip of the key was almost touching. Now, if he could just sort of rise up instead of shooting up at super speed. When he flew last year, he had been in a bit of a hurry. He had no idea how to slowly rise. He concentrated on the feeling of flying. He thought about doing it slowly, not jumping up. Clark stood on his tiptoes…and began to rise, slowly. When he reached the level of the keyhole, he inserted the key, heard a loud "click", removed the key and went back to the ground.

Clark set the key back on the ground and covered it with snow again. There was a grinding sound as the mountain opened up before him.

"Great," thought Clark. "More caves. You would think that for a race that considered themselves advanced, they could come up with something better than a cave. Like a crystal structure, maybe? I don't know. But caves?"

Clark walked forward – into the mountain.

Clark walked along the dimly lit cave. He couldn't figure out where the light source was coming from. Oddly, there were no Kryptonian symbols lining the walls. Clark looked down when the sound of his footsteps changed. He saw that he was no longer walking on dirt and rock, but on a hard, cement-like substance. But it wasn't concrete. More like a plastic of some kind, but not really that either. The further along Clark walked, the brighter it became. Maybe at last he would get the answers he had been seeking the past 4 years.

Clark entered a large room with a ceiling that had to stretch to the top of the mountain itself. Various images seemed to be projected on the walls. Star maps, an image of a large, alien-seeming city, different galaxies and their relation to each other. Words were written in Kryptonian. He could read the words, but they had no meaning for him. What looked like mathematical formulas appeared on the map of galaxies, but it was way beyond Clark's ability to understand. He reached out and touched one of the stars on the star map, and it expanded – giving him information about the system, planets and whether there was life there. "Carl Sagan would love this," thought Clark. "Or Rod Serling."

On one side of the room there was what appeared to be an overlarge bookcase. He examined one of the books and found that it wasn't written on paper, but more of a plastic-like tablet that responded to touch. More strange words looked up at him from the tablet, words that he could read, but not understand. "I have enough trouble with Shakespeare in high school. I'm not sure I'm ready to start on the Kryptonian version," Clark said aloud. His voice, strangely, had no echo here.

In the center of the room was a large, egg-shaped…chamber – there was no better word for it. It was slightly larger than man sized. It seemed to crackle with energy. It was similar to the meteorite he had found near the school. The surface was smooth, but didn't reflect anything around it. Clark walked towards it and reached out. As he touched it, he was suddenly thrown back by an electrical charge and the chamber began to glow. A crack appeared in the side. "Great. It's hatching." But the crack turned into a line that split the chamber vertically. It swung open and a form stepped out of it.

He was wearing odd clothes. Something like a skin-tight jumpsuit with a robe thrown over it. The robe was like a cape, or a poncho - split along the sides and flowing freely from the front and back. More astonishingly, the figure looked familiar. Or rather, he should look familiar in five or ten years or so. Clark was looking at an older image of himself.

The glow in the room had stopped. The chamber had closed and the figure stepped forward. "Greetings, Kal-El." The voice was not his, but sounded like the voice that had come from the wall of the caves in Smallville. Was this?

"Jor-El?"

"I am not Jor-El. You can call me Eradicator."

That didn't sound good. "But how come…why do you look…"Clark began.

"I needed DNA to complete my physical form – DNA you gave me when you touched the chamber. While only present in thought before, I now am able to fulfill my programming."

"Who, or what, are you?"

"I was designed to preserve all things Kryptonian. The heritage, the way of life, even the race if possible." It was eerie hearing Jor-El's voice coming from this being that looked like him. "I am built-in to all Kryptonian technology in order to accomplish this."

"So it was you I was talking to in the caves?"

"I was activated 2.5 years ago when a human attempted to interface with the chamber by inserting the key." He must mean Dr. Walden, Clark thought to himself. "The threat of a non-Kryptonian accessing this library activated me as a defense. The most applicable human term would be 'antivirus'."

That really didn't sound good. "You almost killed my father, more than once. You killed Kara. You have been the cause of all the pain in my life the past 3 years! I want nothing to do with any of this!"

"Your father died more than a thousand years ago, Kal-El. Kara had served her purpose, as had Jonathan Kent. There was no longer a need for them once they had brought you to me."

"And what did you want with me."

"As I said," Eradicator began with the tone of addressing a 10-year old, "I had no physical form. I was present in thought only. In that form, I would be unable to fulfill my program to preserve all that is Kryptonian. When you were with me, I sought to merge my consciousness with your body, to take physical form. And I was successful. You were Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. In that form, I would be able to fulfill my programming."

"But you were defeated," shot Clark defiantly. "You were brought down by one of the humans you have no regard for."

"Yes, I was split from you by Martha Kent and the void element. There is strength in humans I had not anticipated. But now that I have physical form, that can be remedied more easily. The obstacles must be removed. And then we can restore what is right. Krypton will be rebuilt on Earth."

"I won't let you hurt anyone," warned Clark nervously. He hoped "remedied" didn't mean what he thought it meant.

"You cannot stand in my way, Kal-El. All has been answered, now all must be preserved." Eradicator shot into the air.

"Mom! Dad!" shouted Clark as he leapt after him, not even thinking about his fear of flying, or that he didn't even know how to fly.

The miles raced by. Clark could see Eradicator ahead of him, his robe flapping cape-like as he flew. Clark knew where they were headed; back to his farm. Back to "remedy" the problem of humans. And Clark knew that it wasn't just his parents that were in danger. It could very well be every human on Earth. But Clark didn't know how he was going to stop someone who had the same powers he did. And maybe Eradicator had other powers Clark didn't know about. It didn't matter. Clark would stop this monster, or he would die trying.

Eradicator landed at the farm. Clark could see him clearly even though he was miles away. Clark focused on flying faster. He aimed for Eradicator and braced himself. When he hit, it was with the sound of a bomb.

Clark struggled with Eradicator and could see his parents coming from the house to investigate the sound. "Mom! Dad! Run! Get away from here," Clark shouted as he strained to hold Eradicator back. He pulled back and let go a punch that would certainly have knocked down a small building. Clark watched with satisfaction as Eradicator flew back 500 feet from the force of it.

He turned back to his parents and saw his mother running to the barn and his dad running into the house. The wind was knocked out of him as he was struck from behind.

"I may not kill you, Kal-El. My programming would prohibit that. But I must incapacitate you in order to accomplish what I have set out to do. In time, you will see that this is right. All must be preserved."

Clark got to his feet, aching in his back where he had been hit. It was a similar feeling to when he had fought his dad, when his dad had been given the same strength and speed that Clark had. But he would not fall. He had to save everything that meant something to him.

"This is as far as you go. You will not hurt them." Clark was struck by an idea. "That is an order. You may not hurt any human on this planet. I, Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton, tell you this."

Eradicator smiled briefly. That artificial intelligence was something else. "But you are not the Last Son of Krypton yet. There is much that you have been tainted with - much that you must be purged of. I will be unable to follow your directives until I can be certain that you are no longer infected."

"OK then," Clark thought as he launched himself at Eradicator again. He was about 20 feet away when Eradicator lifted his hand and shot out a beam that struck Clark full in the chest, knocking him back.

The beam continued to plunge into Clark. It seemed to push him back and weaken him. "No!" Clark stood up against the pain. The energy from the beam poured into him, but Clark was standing by sheer force of will. He was not going to let anything happen to his parents. He struggled slowly forward. Eradicator seemed to concentrate more and the intensity of the pain increased. No. Clark focused on the hand, thought hard and suddenly the heat came. The pain stopped. Eradicator was holding his hand.

Clark looked back to the house and saw his dad emerge holding…his shotgun? "Good old dad," he thought. But that's not going to do anything. There was no sign of his mother. Clark began to worry anew. His dad wanted to face the problem threatening his family, like he always did. But that was going to get him killed in this case. A shotgun would do nothing except make noise. "Dad! No. It won't work. He's like me. A shotgun won't work!" Clark called desperately.

He raced towards Eradicator to stop him, as he had also seen Jonathan emerge from the house. He grabbed Eradicator by the hand and swung around, trying to throw him back, but Eradicator reversed it, twisted around himself and threw Clark. Then raced forward to meet Jonathan.

"Jonathan Kent. You have served your purpose and will be…" Eradicator was interrupted by the sound of the shotgun going off. Predictably, there was no effect.

"Don't! I'll do whatever you want," pleaded Clark as he raced to his father's side. "Just don't hurt anyone."

"That is not possible, Kal-El. In order to preserve that which is Kryptonian, the humans must be removed." Eradicator turned his attention to Jonathan and in one sweeping movement, knocked the shotgun away and lifted him by the throat.

Clark heard a snap.

Eradicator must have heard it too, because they both turned to look at the same time. Martha was creeping up behind Eradicator.

Clark went weak in the knees. "Mom! No!" Clark despaired. Not her too.

Clark kept getting weaker. He looked at Eradicator and saw that he had dropped Jonathan who stood up massaging his neck.

"Here, Jonathan," called Martha as she tossed a piece of Kryptonite towards him. Both of his parents advanced on Eradicator, holding Kryptonite in front of them. Panic spread to Eradicator's eyes as he tried to get away. Clark was getting too weak to do anything. As Eradicator tried to run past him to escape, Clark held out his leg and tripped Eradicator. They both went down. Eradicator tried to get up and advance towards Martha. Then stiffened and fell over as Jonathan plunged the jagged piece of Kryptonite into his back. He took Martha's piece and, using it as a hammer, pounded the rock home.

Clark continued to crawl away while his dad used duct tape, of all things, to hold the piece of Kryptonite in Eradicator's body.

The green spread all over Eradicator's body as he continued to struggle. "All must be preserved," he gasped. "You are the Last Son of Krypton. You must know this, Kal-El."

"You won't hurt my family anymore," said Jonathan hoarsely. "Clark, can choose his own destiny."

Eradicator reached out his hand, and then passed out.

Jonathan and Martha went to Clark and helped him to his feet, dragging him away from the effects of the Kryptonite.

"Are you OK, dad," asked Clark as he approached the house.

"Don't worry about me, son. You and your mother are safe. Maybe we all are, for now."

"What are we going to do with him," asked Martha as she eyed the body laying in her front yard.

"I think I know," replied Clark. "In the loft, I still have the lead vest I used when I confronted Van. If we could cover the Kryptonite that is in him with it, then I can move him and take care of it."

Clark ran to the loft and grabbed the vest. He brought it as close as he could to Eradicator before he couldn't carry it by himself anymore. His father was right there to help. They placed the vest on Eradicator's body, over the wound and the Kryptonite, and Clark began to feel his strength return. Clark used his heat vision to soften the lead and then worked it until it was thinner, but wrapped all the way around Eradicator's torso. Then, he welded the two ends together, forming a sort of body cast of lead around the body.

Clark hefted the body over his shoulders. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. "I think there is only one place where he can go where he won't bother us anymore. I'll be back," Clark said to his parents. Clark took a deep breath and shot straight up into the air.

Jonathan and Martha watched him go until they could see him no more, which didn't take long considering how fast Clark was moving. "Well, I guess he's over his fear of flying," Jonathan chuckled as he put his arm around his wife and looked into her eyes.

"Jonathan, I thought that was it. If I had been another 5 seconds later…"

"Don't worry about it, honey. It's over. I'm OK. Clark's OK. Maybe things can go back to normal." Jonathan looked skyward and said, "Although 'normal' is kind of a relative term now."

Twenty minutes later, Clark came back down. He looked a little flushed. "If I never have to do that again, it will be too soon," said Clark. His jacket was gone, but his t-shirt and jeans, while looking a little scorched, were none to worse for the wear.

"Clark?" Martha had a questioning look in her eye.

"I figured the only place where he would no longer be a threat was the sun."

"The what!" Both of his parents exclaimed.

"Well, I had to get rid of him. Once I left the atmosphere, I waited to see what the effects of space would have. I was a little uncomfortable, but could stand it. And I guess I am able to hold my breath for a long time. And I could still control my direction. So I headed towards the sun. It wasn't long before my jacket burned off of me, but the clothes that were close to my skin, the more skin-tight the better, stayed in pretty good shape. I got as close as I could stand it, then threw Eradicator in as hard as I could. I'm sure the lead melted away, but he was so weak that the exposure should have killed him." Clark looked sad at the last remark. Then Clark straightened a little, "But he won't be bothering us anymore."

"Clark," started Jonathan, "I don't know what to say. That's amazing. Flying is one thing, but this?"

"I know dad. But I hope I won't have to do too much more flying now that this is over." He hugged them both, planting a kiss on his mother's forehead. "But there is something else I have to do. I'll be right back." With that, Clark raced off in a blur.

Clark entered the cave in the north again. When he got to the main room, everything around him seemed to react to his presence. Lights came on; words started scrolling across the images projected on the walls. He noticed a blank spot on the wall. About four feet up was the symbol of the 8 in the pentagon. The symbol that meant "House of El." Clark walked up to it. He tentatively reached out and touched it. The wall in front of him came to life with another projected image. He, again, was looking at an older version of himself, much older this time.

"Eradicator! But you… I put you…"

"Greetings, my son." Clark was shocked. The voice sounded like his, rather than the voice he had been hearing all these years.

"Jor-El? Are you really Jor-El this time?"

"I am the image of Jor-El. The intelligence in this system is set to respond as I would to any questions you may have." Jor-El looked him over. "You are younger than I would have predicted. I expected you much later in your life."

"I had no choice. I was brought here. Something called Eradicator." Recognition flickered in Jor-El's eyes. "What exactly was the Eradicator."

"Eradicator was both our greatest achievement, and the cause of our downfall. We, as a race, were very technologically advanced. But as you on Earth are finding out, with advancement, you must have maturity. We were not as mature as we thought."

"We created Eradicator to help keep us pure - to help preserve our race, our customs, our way of life. The program went so far as to alter our genetic makeup. But, in that, was our downfall. We became so genetically pure, that we were tied to our planet. We could no longer leave, no longer explore, except for short periods of time. An extended stay from Krypton would mean death to any one of us. When we found out about the imminent destruction of our world, we knew that we, as a race, were doomed."

"But what about me? I'm Kryptonian. How was I able to leave Krypton."

"Your mother, Lara and I took you from the birthing center before the program could enhance your DNA. We knew we had to try and preserve the race. Many thought it was hopeless, so they did not care that you would not have the so-called genetic purity that other Kryptonians had. Because of this, you could leave Krypton in the ship I had designed."

"Why couldn't you talk to me before this? I thought I was talking to you, but it turned out to be Eradicator," asked Clark.

"Unfortunately, once the Eradicator had been activated, all other functions became secondary in order to allow Eradicator to fulfill its programming."

"We…I… I thought you were a monster. I thought you sent me here to rule over humans. To conquer them." Clark cast his eyes to the floor.

"My son," Jor-El began. "I was on your planet for a time. I met the ancestor of Jonathan Kent. I knew they were good people. I even loved a human, before I met Lara. As primitive as they were, I did not want you to conquer them. You had the best chance for survival there, among a primitive civilization. But it wasn't enough to just send you to Earth. I had to send you to a specific place on Earth: A place where I met an honorable man – a man who would go out of his way to help a stranger."

"But you said, in your message, 'Rule them with strength'. What did that mean?"

"Kal-El, they are a flawed race. Surely you can see that." Clark nodded. "They kill each other over land or religious beliefs or material goods. Their passions drive them, not the search for knowledge. You must lead or rule by example. Allow your strength and goodness to be an inspiration to them: a help to them. That is where your greatness lies. Do you understand?"

"I think so," replied Clark. "But…"

"Kal-El, my son. It is too early. There will be a time for more answers, but not now. When you are ready; when you have matured, you will come to me. And then we will begin." The screen went dark and Clark was left with his thoughts.


End file.
